So Much to Do, So Little Time
by ProngsGirl88
Summary: Lily's an ordinary girl, with ordinary parents, ordinary friends, and goes to an ordinary school. There was nothing unusual about her, or at least, nothing she knew of anyway. That is, until she meets a certain boy named James. James Potter.
1. An ordinary eleven year old girl

Lily was your average eleven-year-old girl. She had auburn curly hair (like her father) that fell just a little below her shoulders, and bright green eyes (like her mother). Lily had an ordinary family, ordinary friends, and went to an ordinary school. There was definitely nothing unusual about her, or at least, nothing she knew of, anyway.

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Today was the first day of summer, and Lily was going to stay with her grandparents, who lived far out in the country, while the rest of her family went to America to visit some relatives. They had invited her to go along, but to be honest, Lily didn't exactly get along with her American cousins, and didn't feel like spending her whole summer getting into fights with them. Since her parents got a free plane ticket when they bought theirs, they decided to let Lily fly to her grandparents, instead of taking the 6 hour train ride.

"Here we are." Said Lily's mother as they arrived at the large London airport. "Do you have your plane ticket dear?"

Lily sighed. It was time for the never ending list of questions her mother always asked her when they were going to be separated like this. "Yes mom."

"Do you know what plane your on?"

"Yes mom, flight eleven, its right on the ticket."

"Do you have your luggage?"

"Yes, mom!"

"Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?"

"Yes!"

"Are you positive? Lets go through the list once more, just to be sure: tooth brush, hair brush, underwear, …"

"MOM!!!"

"Calm down Lily, your mother just wants to make sure everything goes all right."

"I know…"

By then they had arrived at the gate for the flight Lily's family was taking. They were a little late, so the plane was already boarding.

"You guys better hurry, or you're going to miss your flight!"

"Now you be careful, and behave yourself!" Lily's mother said as they exchanged hugs and good-byes.

"I will. Say hi to everybody in America for me! Oh, and if its not too much trouble, can you bring me back a souvenir?"

At this, Lily's father laughed. "Of course dear. Say hello to grandmother and grandfather for us, all right?"

_"Last call for passengers on flight 16!"_

"Oh! That's your flight!! Hurry, or you'll miss it!"

They all said a last few good-byes, and then finally boarded the plane. Lily walked over to one of the large wall-sized windows and watched as their plane made its way to the runway and took off.

Lily's flight wasn't set to leave until about an hour and a half from now, so she slowly made her way to the gate, keeping an eye out for a good place to have lunch.

When she was about half way there, she noticed a commotion by one of the snack bars. To kill some time, she decided to go over and investigate. As she got closer, she noticed that what ever was going on, was being caused by two boys with black hair.

The boys were dressed rather oddly. Over their regular clothes, they each wore a cape with a long scarf, despite the warm summer weather. Lily assumed they had just arrived from somewhere rather cold. She couldn't tell much else about them, except the fact that they appeared to be around her age.

She had now joined the quickly forming crowd around the snack-stand and listened to what the boys and shopkeeper were arguing about.

"It was only a little prank, geez, you don't have much of a sense of humor do you?" said one of the boys. He was a little shorter than the other one, and his hair was rather short and neat.

"Only a prank?! Only a prank?!?! Why you two hooligans could have set my entire shop on fire!!!!!"

"Who you calling hooligans?? You should be thankin' us right about now. Why, I doubt you've never, or would ever have seen an indoor firework in your entire life if it wasn't for me and James here!!"

"Sirius, calm down. He has a right for being angry. None of these people have ever seen anything like that before. They had no way of knowing that the firework was perfectly safe." Said the boy who was apparently named James, as he attempted to calm down the other boy, whose name appeared to be Sirius. James was a slightly taller than Sirius, and had black hair that was a little bit longer than Sirius's, not too mention much messier.

"I don't care if that 'firework' was harmless or not! I won't have you two dimwits hanging around my stand and causing trouble! Now scat before I call security!"

"Huh, dimwits is it now? Not very good at name calling are you??"

"Sirius, come on, let's go before we get into more trouble!" said James as he grabbed Sirius's arm, and attempted to drag him away from the scene. His attempt was futile though, as Sirius just yanked his arm out of his hand and headed back in the direction of the shopkeeper.

"Hold on, I'm just getting started!!" He called back to James, before turning his attention back to the keeper. "All right you stupid, ugly, not to mention smelly, excuse for a heir to Slytherin! Me and my good friend here are perfectly capable of deciding when we want to leave, thank you! We don't need a fat fellow like yerself givin us empty threats about 'calling security'! Come on, Prongsie, lets go and find somewhere muggle free to get something to eat!"

_Slytherin? Prongsie? Muggle?_ Lily thought to herself. Although these two spoke with a British accent, they definitely came from somewhere with a rather strange vocabulary.

Looking to her right, Lily noticed that a few people seemed to be forcing their way through the small crowd. Unfortunately for James and Sirius, the shopkeeper apparently _had_ called security during Sirius's little speech, and they were now surrounded by three rather large and angry looking security guards.

"Uhh, hullo there fellows! Nice weather we're having, ehh?" Sirius said brightly, hoping to avoid trouble.

"Hello there boys. Would you care to explain what exactly you're doing causing such a commotion, not too mention why your dressed in such warm clothes on a nice summer day like this?" asked one of the guards.

"Ummm, we're lost?" offered James meekly. He kept looking around the crowd for someone to help him.

"Well in that case, why don't we take you down to our station by the front of the airport?" said the second guard slyly.

 "Uhh, that's ok officer. I'm sure if we just wandered around here for a little while, we could figure out where we're supposed to be goin'!" said Sirius hurriedly.

"Oh, I'm sure you would be _much_ better off if _we_ helped you." Said a third guard.

"That's really all right officer, we _really_ don't want to be any trouble!"

"We _insist_." said SG#1.

Lily could tell by the panicked looks on both of the boys' faces that this was definitely not something that they had planned on happening. Why she did what she did next, Lily could never really explain. All she could say was that she had suddenly grown rather fond of the two boys, and knew that they would be in BIG trouble if someone didn't do something to help them.

"There you _are_!!" she said as she stepped out of the crowd. "I've been looking _everywhere_ for you!"

"What are you talki-…OWW!!" Sirius started to say before James elbowed him in the side.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! Mom _told_ you two not to do wandering off, but _no_, you just don't listen, _do_ you?"

"Are you saying that these two are your brothers, young lady?" questioned SG#2.

"Yes, well, that ones my brother." Lily answered quickly, pointing to James. "The other one is his moronic friend."

"Hey, who you calling a moron-…Oww!" Sirius began to say before, once again being elbowed by James.

"I'm sorry if they've been causing any trouble, Sirs."

"Oh, well, they have been-…"started SG#3

"Because my mother is right over there, if you'd like to talk to her. I can go get her if you'd like."

"I don't really think that's neces-…"said SG#1 before being interrupted

"Oh good, because our flight is just starting to board, and we really should get on our way, you wouldn't want us to miss our flight, would you?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Of course not, but-…" began SG#2

"Good, all right you two, grab your bags and lets get going!" and with that, Lily grabbed James and Sirius each by and arm, and started at a brisk pace down the terminal. The guards, crowd and shopkeeper were so startled by this little presentation, that they just stood there gaping at each other.

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(a/n well, here's the beginnings of another story, up and ready to go! For some strange reason, I'm suddenly very inspired. Strange, huh? Well, for those of you who have started to read my other story; When Squirrels go bad: A Lily Evans story, don't worry, I haven't given up on it, I'm just simply starting another fic, so that when I get a writers block on one, I can work on the other!! Now don't forget to review, or I won't continue this story!!)


	2. I've got a rumbly in my tumbly, mayonais...

Disclaimer: Ok, for any of you who haven't figured this out, I'm not J.K.R., so I only own the plot and any characters/things you don't recognize.

*Honorable Mentions*

catseyes248: glad you love it!! I'll try to update at least once a week!

sirius's lover: glad u like! hmm.. a fan of Sirius I presume? so is my friend…

Hermione's evil twin: once again, glad you love it!! And if you like it enough, please advertise for me to all ur fanfic-reading friends!!

Darcel: thanx, glad u like it!

Moonlight Lily: thanx for reviewing! Glad u like the whole "moronic friend thing"

Reania: Yup, Lily's definitely a smart one in this fic, but hopefully she won't turn out to be a book worm….

*thanx to all you guys who read my story, but if you want to be in the "honorable mentions" in the beginning, then you have to actually review!!!*

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"Wow! Thanks!!" gasped James.

Lily had continued to drag the two confused boys until they had turned a corner and were out of sight of the snack stand.

They stood now, catching their breath, in what happened to be the waiting room for Lily's flight.

"That was bloody brilliant!!" cried Sirius, once he had recovered from their rather long run. "You could be one of the Marauders!"

"Thanks, I think." Replied Lily.

"So who are you, anyway?" questioned James.

"Oh, sorry, I got so caught up in that little 'scam', that I forgot my manners. My name is Lily Evans."

"My name's James Potter." Said James, holding his hand out for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you Lils. My name is Black, Sirius Black, 007 secret agent." Said Sirius, as he took the hand she had held out for her to shake, but instead kissing it in a 'gentleman' like way.

"A fan of the James Bond movies, I presume?" Lily asked, while holding back laughter.

"Nope, I've just always wanted to say that."

At this, all three of the new-acquaintances laughed heartily. They were interrupted, though, by a rather large gurgle from Lily's stomach.

"I take it that you're hungry?" asked James mockingly.

"I guess so." She replied.

"Me too!" Sirius piped up quickly. "You guys wanna go find somewhere to eat?"

"Sure…" Lily said slowly, as she looked at her watch. "My flight leaves at 1:15, so I have 45 minutes. That should be plenty of time, as long as we don't have any repeats of the incident from before." She added, eyeing Sirius.

"Hey! That's when our flight leaves too! Are you heading for Liverpool?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah! My grandparents live in a small town just outside of there."

"Cool! What seat do you have?"

"Umm…11A. What seats do you guys have?"

She waited a moment while they searched for their plane tickets. Sirius found them both, but couldn't figure out where it said what their seats were. James ended up snatching tem out of his hands, and then finally reading them.

"We have seats 11B and C!"

"No way! Talk about a coincidence!" remarked Lily happily. She had been expecting to get stuck sitting next to some guy in his 40's that she didn't know, and, as a result, the flight to be a very dull and boring one.

"Can we talk about this later?" complained Sirius. "I'm starving! Let's go find somewhere to eat already!"

Luckily, there was a sandwich shop just a little bit down the hall. It only took a few minutes to decide what they were going order, but Sirius was having a hard time choosing.

"Come on Sirius! Order already!" urged James, after they had been standing there for 15 minutes.

"It can't possibly take this long to pick the toppings to go on a sandwich!" complained Lily.

"Don't rush me!" Sandwiches must be taken very seriously (a/n, no pun intended!)! And when you've got such a wide variety of toppings to chose from, you've gotta make sure you get the most you possibly can out of it!"

"Whatever, Sirius. I dunno about you Lily, but I'm not gonna wait any longer, I'm starving!" And with that, James started to head back to the waiting area for their flight.

"Oi! Wait up, James, I coming too! (a/n remind you of anything? *cough*merry&pippin *cough*) No offense Sirius, but no one else on earth could possibly take as long as you to order a sandwich. How do you decide what to have for breakfast each morning?! Come and join us when you finally decide!"

James apparently hadn't heard Lily when she had told him to "wait up", and had ran the whole way to the waiting area. When she finally got there, she found him munching away, with half of his sub already gone. He hadn't been kidding when he said he was starving.

"Thanks for waiting." Lily said sarcastically as she sat down next to him.

"Your welcome!" he said brightly, through a mouthful of food.

"So," Lily said between bites, "why are you going to Liverpool?"

"That's where my house is. Oh, and Sirius is going to stay with me for the summer. That way my mom can take us both to platform 9 and…" Then James suddenly stopped shortly. _That was a close one!_ He thought. _I almost told her about platform 9 ¾! _He had never known a muggle who was so easy to talk to. He'd have to be more careful from now on to be sure not to let anything slip.

"Platform 9 and…?" Lily questioned impatiently.

Luckily for James, at that moment Sirius finally came back with not one, but two sandwiches.

In response to the bemused looks he received from Lily and James, Sirius began to explain what had happened.

"I had narrowed my choices down to two different combinations, but I couldn't choose one over the other, they both sounded so good! Lucky for me, the guy behind the counter seemed to understand my situation, because he decided to give me one for free. Some of you muggl-…" At that moment James "accidentally" kicked Sirius in the shin.

"Owwww!! What was that for?!?!" Sirius cried out in pain. Unfortunately, James hadn't acted soon enough for Lily not to figure out what Sirius had been about to say.

"I'm not stupid you know, I could easily tell what Sirius was about to say. It was that word "muggle", the one he used while yelling at that shopkeeper. And now that I'm thinking about it, he also used the words "Slytherin" and "Prongsie". What the heck did he mean?" Lily asked James, who had a guilty/panicked look on his face.

"Uhhh….."

(a/n ok, once again not very long, but that seemed like a pretty good place to end it so, don't yell at me people!! Now don't forget, no reviews means no more story!!!)


	3. Evil killer cloud bunnies

Disclaimer: In case for some reason that you can't recall what I said in the last chapter, everything except the plot, and a few names, places and things you don't recognize, this is all J. K.'s

*Honorable Mentions*

alya1989262: _well, they may not guarantee fast up dates, but they certainly help to increase my typing speed!!_

ambigousjoe: _glad you like my fic so much, although I wouldn't exactly call it awesome…_

*starborn*: _thanx, I plan on keeping it going for a really long time! That is, as long as my computer doesn't break down again, or get a virus (I hate it when that happens, don't you?)_

qwerty: _oww! That must have hurt (about your brother!) luckily, I don't have any brothers, but I do have quite a few cousins. Unfortunately, I think it will be a while before James and Sirius learn to watch what they say in this fic, that is if they ever do! (I like the way your pen name just flows across the keyboard! ;-D)_

Marie: _glad you like my idea!! Don't ask me how I came up with the idea, it just sort of came to me during a REALLY gross movie and C.P.S., has any one ever seen " A Fire in the Sky"?_

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"Uhhh… well he meant…what I mean is he, umm…" James trailed off as he tried to come up with a reasonable lie for their situation.

"It's a… secret code thingy,… that me, James and Remus have!" filled in Sirius.

"Yeah, what he said!"

"Ok, but who's Remus?"

"A friend of ours."

"I guess that's a reasonable explanation, but I don't think you're telling me the whole truth. Oh well, I guess its none of my business any way. I can be pretty nosy sometimes, or at least that's what people tell me."

"Really, I didn't notice." Said James sarcastically, as he mentally let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, although Sirius can be kind of a moron at times, he is good at lying, James noted.

They spent the rest of the time, while waiting for their flight, eating their lunches and talking about random things (James and Sirius had a hard time not saying anything that had to do with the wizarding world, and phrases like "did you watch last weeks quid…oops", and "what house at Hog…ohh, umm, never mind." were often accidentally said.)

Eventually, 1:15 rolled around and the three new friends boarded the plane and found their seats.

The two-hour flight was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that they man sitting behind Sirius threatened to chuck him out of the window, even if that would cause the plane to crash and burst into millions of flames, from which no one, including himself would most likely escape from alive. 

Apparently, Sirius had never been on a plane before, and was fascinated by all of the buttons, headphones, lights and the fact that you could recline your chair. He happened to choose to experiment with that last one, just when the man behind him was eating some VERY hot soup. You do the math.

Like I said, the rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Liverpool.

They got off the plane, and then attempted to find their luggage. James and Sirius found theirs immediately found theirs (thanks to a simple summoning charm Sirius's mother had taught them before they left.), Lily, on the other hand, just couldn't seem to find hers.

She sat on a bench next to the boys and their luggage in frustration. As she sat there, thought about which was more possible; a. someone had stolen her things b. her they were still at the airport in London, c. they had managed to get on the wrong flight and were now headed for China, or d. they had been abducted by aliens (a/n the last was suggested by Sirius.). As she sat there, contemplating her luggage's fate, she stared at James' and Sirius' things. They each had one or two bags, which were nothing out of the ordinary, but along with those, Sirius had a toad? and James had an owl? and they each had a broom? _Ok, they are definitely not your two, average, everyday guys._ Lily thought to herself.

It was as she was thinking this that Lily realized that she might never see James or Sirius again. She began to think about the long, lonely summer that lay ahead for her. There weren't many kids her age near her grandparents' house, and to put it nicely, her grandparents could be rather dull.

She looked up, and saw that James and Sirius had gotten up and were walking towards some man in suit.

"Hey James, wait up!" she called after James, as he and Sirius continued to head toward what Lily realized must be his chauffeur (a/n, let's call him Bob.). _He must be rich!_ Lily thought to herself.

"Yeah?"

"You know you just got up and left your luggage over there, where anyone could take it right?"

"What are you talking about, shouldn't it just follow us?" piped up Sirius.

"What are you talking about?"

James elbowed Sirius in the side. "Oh, oops…never mind." 

James cursed himself for forgetting that this was a muggle airport and your luggage doesn't just magically follow you to where ever you're going. "Thanks, we almost forgot it."

Lily went with them back to the bench."Umm, I was wondering, could we maybe exchange phone numbers, you know, so we can keep in touch over the summer?"

_Phone numbers?!?! What's a phone??_ James thought to himself. "Uhh, sorry, I don't have one… I think." He added the last bit to himself.

"Oh." _He's either weirder than I thought, or he really stinks at lying. "I don't have one", please, he could at least come out honest and say that he doesn't want me to call him. _Lily thought to herself.

By then James and Sirius had gathered their things together on a cart, and were heading back to Bob. When they reached him, there was an awkward silence. After a while, Lily finally broke it "Ok, well, good-bye, I guess. I mean, I'll probably never see either one of you again."

"Oh yeah, bye. It was fun talking to you. Thanks again for what you did for us before." James said, holding out his hand. Lily hesitated for a moment, and then on a sudden impulse, she reached up and gave him a quick hug.

"Bye James." Lily said quickly, and then did the same to Sirius.

James just stood there for a moment, but was then brought back to earth when Bob mentioned the fact that they were on a tight schedule. "Umm… I guess we'd better go now, bye!"

 With that, James grabbed Sirius by the arm, and started to head for the exit with Bob. Sirius wasn't quite finished saying good-bye, so as he was dragged along, he called over his shoulder, "Good-bye Lily, fare thee well, adios, see ya when I see ya, aloha, au revoir, auf wiedersehen (a/n that's German!!), arrivederci, hasta la vista baby!"

Lily stood there watching them as they left, before it occurred to her that she should probably continue the wild-goose-chase of finding her luggage. When she finally found it, she got into a small argument with a little old lady who claimed that one of Lily's bags was hers. Lily tried to show her the rather large name tag on it that read in bright green "**Lily Evans**", but the poor lady appeared to be both half deaf and blind. As a last resort, Lily yanked the bag out of her hands, tossed it on her trolley, and made a run for it.

She nearly hit 3 people and a dog in her mad dash, which she had to continue for a surprisingly long time. The old lady happened to be a VERY fast runner for someone who's 70 something years old and is half deaf and blind.

She eventually made it to the exit, and managed to flag a cab.

Lily stared absentmindedly out the window on the ride home. It was a rather cloudy day, but every now and then, the sun would find a gap and shine proudly through. As she gazed at the clouds, to pass the time, Lily tried to find ones the shape of objects and animals.

She was just staring at a particular cloud that was the shape of a bunny with fangs (a/n don't ask), when she noticed something flying up ahead of the cab. At first Lily thought it was a bird, and then maybe a plane, but the more she looked at it, the more it began to resemble a… _Car? It can't be! _She thought to herself. _I must be seeing things or something. Wait, isn't seeing things a sign of insanity?_

****

****

**_So is talking to yourself_**_. _Answered a voice in the back of her mind. 

_Who said that?_

**_Uhh… no one._**

****

_What?? How could no one have said that? It's physically impossible._

****

**_Grrr…why do you have to be so smart??_**

****

_Oh… I just am, isn't it wonderful? Well, getting off the subject here. Who are you?_

****

**_Uhh… I can't tell you._**

****

_What do you mean you can't tell me?_

****

**_Umm… I just…can't?_**

****

_Why?_

Because… 

****

During most of this conversation, the cab driver (a/n let's call him Steve) had been watching Lily. He was rather amused by the sight that he saw. Lily had a look of very hard concentration, and was staring at the seat in front of her, like she was trying to burns holes through it with her eyes. Any other driver would have been greatly surprised by this, but Steve wasn't. He had given many rides to a crazy old man who lived in a park nearby. The man would often do the exact same thing as what Lily was doing right now. The poor dear, she's so young, and already starting to go off her rocker. It seems to happen younger and younger these days, probably cause of those blasted t.v.'s… Ok, back to weird italics conversation. Because why… 

Because I just can't tell you, ok? At least not right now! 

****

_Oh fine, your no fun._

****

**_Well, I've got to go now._**

****

Why? 

You're really nosy, aren't you? 

****

_Yup, and proud of it! But that still doesn't answer my question._

****

**_If you want the answer, look out your window._**

****

With that, the voice disappeared, and Lily realized, upon looking out of her window, that she had arrived at her grandparents' house.

(a/n well once again, not very long, but hopefully that's just because its still the beginning and were not in Hogwarts yet. Once we get there, however, hopefully this story will get a lot better!! Remember, the more reviews, the quicker the chapters go up. Let's try to reach _at least _15 reviews, ok?)


	4. An Unexpected Letter

Disclaimer: _Are you people really that stupid?_

***Honorable Mentions***

ally: _don't worry, I'll keep writing this fic for a while!_

Moonlight Lily: _it's not a very good sign, is it? lol, I do it all the time!_

starborn: _lol_, I think that was Spanish, but to be honest, I can't remember! That stinks about your computer, it happens to me all the time!__

mackenzie: _maybe they do live near eachother, but Lily just doesn't know it, or maybe they don't? mwahahahaha! I love confusing people like that! Wait, I'm confusing myself!_

person-who-apparently-doesn't-have-a-name: _hey, wait, who says you can have James?! He's mine!!!! (starts to grow really big fangs, and froth at the mouth)_

ambigousjoe: _haha_, glad you liked the old lady! I can't wait for Lily to get her letter either, so since I'm the writer, than maybe its in the close future! lol__

maraudergirl101: _lol__, don't u just luv her! tee-hee_

mackenzie: _wait, I already did you, didn't i? oh well! I hope u happy now, the next chappie is up!_

Well, I think that's everyone. Now remember, if you wanna become rich and famous like all of these guys, u have to review! I don't care if u send me flowers or flames, just as long as u send my reviews! lol, enjoy the next chapter guys!

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"Lily dear, can you come down here for a moment? There's a letter here for you!"

"I've got a letter?? That's strange. I wonder who it's from?" Lily said to herself.

She quickly ran down the stairs to find her grandmother standing at the bottom, holding a letter that seemed to be made out of… _parchment?_

Lily slowly took the letter, wondering what it could possibly be. Lily checked the address, just to be sure it was indeed hers (her grandmother was known to accidentally give mail to the wrong people), and was surprised to see, written in green ink:

_Miss Lily Evans,_

_Third Room to the Right,_

_126 Willow Road__,_

_Helens, _UK___  01845_

 _How the heck did they know I was the third room on the right?? Lily asked herself._

She turned it over and discovered it had a wax seal. As she looked more closely, she noticed that there was some sort of coat-of-arms consisting of a shield, which was divide into four equal sections, each one containing either a lion, snake, badger, or raven, with the name _Hogwarts** written underneath. Her curiosity had taken complete control of her now, and she broke the seal without even thinking twice about it, eager to discover what could possibly be inside.**_

She pulled out another peace of parchment, also in green ink, and silently read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of__ WITCHCRAFT __and__ WIZARDRY****_

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Ms. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

"Okay….."Lily said slowly, in disbelief. "What kind of sick mind came up with _that_?"

"What's that dear?" questioned Lily's grandmother.

"Oh, just this letter. It's really strange, it must be a prank or something." She handed the parchment to her grandmother, as she came over to investigate.

"Hmm… how very strange. I think I've seen some letters like this before. Simply pranks of course. 'School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' such a foolish idea."

Just then, Lily's grandfather came dashing through the door, covered in dirt, with sweat beginning to form on his brow. "That darn dog! Can't even let a man get his gardening done! And all just for the sake of chasing a squirrel into the woods!"

"Oh dear. If she's gone into the woods, then that means someone will have to go in after her. Lily, dear, would you mind? I still have quite a bit of house work to get done, and your grandfather has to finish his work in the garden."

"Of course not! I was only working on some summer-homework. Which way did she go this time?" Lily asked, as she absentmindedly stuffed the letter into her pocket.

"Oh, around the back. Thank goodness you're here Lily. Your grandfather and I are getting too old to go chasing Kacy around the woods everyday. I don't know what we'll do once you have to leave at the end of the summer."

Lily laughed. "It's wonderful to know that I'm so important to you!  I'll go and look for Kacy now. If I'm not back in a week, it would probably be a good idea to send a search party!"

With that, Lily set off around the back of the house.

Lily sighed. Kacy was always getting into trouble. Why, she had only been here for a week, and Kacy had already ate a homework assignment, gotten mud all over her suit-case, and dog hair all over her pillow. And of course there was the never-ending supply of doggy-kisses. Lily laughed as she remembered her arrival at her grandparents' house.

The cab driver had helped Lily get her luggage from the trunk, and then quickly took off as soon as she paid him, leaving her to carry all of her things up to the porch. She hadn't been standing there for very long however, before Kacy, her grandparents' permanently sugar-high golden retriever, came bounding out of her doggy-door, knocked Lily onto the ground, and began overwhelming her with "doggy-kisses".

Kacy was soon followed by Lily's grandparents, who were just as happy to see her. 

After the usual exchange of phrases such as "Now who is this beautiful young woman who has come to see us?", "You've grown so much since the last time we saw you!!", and "You're so thin, hasn't your mother been feeding you, over there in London?", they helped her with her bags, and led her inside as Kacy ran ahead of them and tripped Lily's grandfather in the process.

Besides the fact that her grandparents could sometimes be unbelievably boring, Lily loved staying with them. Their home had that out-in-the-country feeling that she loved so much.  Each room was filled with old family belongings, which had been passed down through generations. 

Her grandparents lived on a huge property. The house itself sat on a lake of deep green grass, with a few humongous oak trees, which Lily had spent most of her childhood climbing. The grass ran all the way down the driveway. On the right side of the house, and field of wild flowers began, and wrapped around behind the grass in the back of the house. On the left side of the house, a thin forest of oaks, pines, maples, and other trees that Lily didn't recognize began, and wrapped around the back of the large field in the back of the house. All in all, this house was very different from Lily's modern home in the busy suburbs of London. 

It didn't take Lily long to discover the path that Kacy had taken. In fact, she would've had to have been an idiot to have missed it. I mean, the dog had knocked over a flower pot, a bird feeder, ran through a HUGE puddle of mud, which was slowly expanding from a garden hose that had been left un-attended, and then ran up and over the picnic table, leaving a pattern of doggy foot-prints on its freshly washed surface. The trail of muddy-prints continued to the edge of the field, where they were replaced by newly made path through the flowers, caused by Kacy's huge body.

"God Kacy, there better not be any ticks in here!!" Lily muttered to herself, as she started through the field.

Lily had been walking for about 10 minutes, without any sign of Kacy other than the trampled grass, when she came to the edge of the forest.

Lily stood there for a moment, reluctant to enter the foreboding depths of the forest. There was something about it that just gave Lily the creeps. She always felt like someone was watching her whenever she ventured into the shadow of the trees.

_No, that's silly! Lily told herself. _No one's watching me.__

**_And just how do you that??_**

****

Suddenly, all the memories of the strange voice in the car ride came flooding into her mind.  She had been so surprisingly busy lately, with helping her grandparents out, and doing summer-homework, that she had somehow completely forgotten about everything. Even James and Sirius. The thought of the two boys caused a slight pang in her heart. She realized that they were barely acquaintances, but the fact that they had not wanted to talk to her again still upset her. Lily quickly swept this thought from her mind, and continued her witty conversation with the mysterious voice.

_That's just childish to think that "someone's watching me". I mean, come on? How could that be possible? My grandparents' house is the only one for miles!_

**_You THINK that your grandparents' house is the only house for miles, but how do you really KNOW that there isn't another one, maybe out in these very woods, that you don't know about?_**

****

_What are you talking about??_

**_Oh, wouldn't you like to know!_**

****

_Ok, this is really getting weird now!! I've got to stop freaking myself out here, and try to find Kacy before she gets into even more trouble! Lily told herself, and attempted to block the unknown voice from her mind._

Lily entered the forest, and quickly picked up on where Kacy's trail continued. As she began to follow it, she thought she heard faint barking farther up ahead.

**_Hey! Where are you going???_**

****

_To find Kacy!!_

**_No! Wait, I mean. You can't go in there!_**

****

_And just why is that?_

**_It's not safe!!_**

****

_Please! I'm going to find Kacy, and you can't change my mind!_

The anonymous voice inside Lily's head seemed to give up, because there was no a response to Lily' last remark. At this point, Lily didn't really care much, though. 

It was getting dark, and despite it was mid-June, there was a cool breeze and Lily began to shiver a bit.

"Kacy! Where are you??" Lily called out desperately. Suddenly, she heard Kacy barking from up ahead. It wasn't her usual, I'm-barking-because-I-feel-like-being-annoying bark, it was more urgent, and hairs on the back of Lily's neck rose at the sound of it. Something was wrong.

(a/n evil, aren't I?? please don't get ticked at me for leaving you all with another cliff-hanger, but I promise, this time I'll up-date a lot more quickly, I've got basically the next two or three chapters all worked out in my head, now all I have to do is some how succeed in writing them down on paper, well actual type them, but you know what I mean. Don't forget, the more you R&R, the quicker my fingers type!)


	5. Rapid, deranged wolves, among other thin...

**Disclaimer: _Do we really have to do through this?_**

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**~*Honorable Mentions*~**

**_ambigousjoe_****_~ __hey, is _ur___ name from that movie with the white-cell cop guy inside that fat guy's body? well, anyway, thanx for being an ever-loyal reviewer, even though I take forever to update!_**

**_dried_****_ fish~ __thanx__ so much for pointing out that incredibly stupid typo I made! who's ever heard of "coat-of-arms"? by the way, interesting name!_**

**_Completely Insane~ _**_Guess what? here's more!! Lol, I'm not gonna even ask where _ur___ name comes from!_

**_starborn_****_~ __thanx__ for being another forever loyal reviewer! sry this chappie took so long!_**

**_Mackenzie~ _**_thanx__ to, yes, another loyal reviewer! lol, sry about the last chappie, I just couldn't help myself, and I'm afraid I might have done it again this time!_

**_old-soul_****_~ __glad to see u like it so much! Yeah! A fellow l/j fan!_**

**_Moon*wolf~ _**_thanx__ so much for putting my fic on __ur__ favs! Glad to hear u luv it! I'll try to update a lot sooner this time!_

**_VoldemortsIllegitimateChild_****_~ __interesting name….anyways, lol, I like the arguing-with-herself lily too!_**

_(I realized that I may have forgotten to respond to a few reviews from the last chapter, so I'd like to apologize to anyone I missed, and give them all an extra-special big thanx right now! Ok, that sounded like something my school guidance councilor would say, but, oh well. Now on with the story!)_

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Lily started to run in the direction of Kacy's barking. Just as she entered a sort of clearing in the trees, the barking died into a sort of strangled whimper.

"Kacy!?!" Lily called out desperately.  She was really scared now. It was bad enough that she was hearing voices, but now it seemed that the voice could predict the future, or at least knew something that she didn't.

Lily was suddenly knocked to the ground as Kacy came bounding toward her. 

"What the heck happened to you??" Lily asked Kacy, as she noticed a deep, jagged cut down her front leg, forgetting that she was a dog, and can't talk.

That's when something really strange happened. Kacy… _talked!_

It was hard to understand at first, but Lily could have sworn that through all of Kacy's barking, she could hear the words "wolf" and "attacked" repeated again and again.

Lily was stunned. _Kacy, her grandparents' _dog, _had just… _talked!__

That thought was quickly swept from her mind as the strange, unknown voice returned.

**_Ok, so now you've found the dog, can we please leave now?_**

****

_Kacy's leg is hurt though! Lily paused as she watched Kacy attempt to walk. As soon as the poor dog placed any weight on her leg, it crumpled beneath her, sending her crashing into the dead leaves that buried the forest floor. __She can barely walk! She exclaimed to the voice._ How am I possibly going to move a sixty pound golden-retriever through the woods, and then all the way through a field, back to my grandparent's house?__

**_Simple, just use your, oh wait, never mind._**

****

_What? Ok, I've got a huge problem here! It's starting to get dark, and I can't just leave Kacy to go and get help! Whatever hurt her is probably still out there! Wait, that means that I'm in danger too! Oh fudge! This is bad, this is really bad!_

**_Shhhh…._**

****

_Shhh? How can I just "shhh" when there's some kind of rapid-wolf-creature-thingy out here, probably on my scent right now, preparing to pull a Jurassic-Park-velociraptor-move on me! Ohmygod, I'm probably going to die!_

**_Will you shut-up! I think I hear something nearby._**

****

At that very moment, what to Lily appeared to be the deranged version of a wolf, came thrashing through the trees in her direction.

_Oh. My. God!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lily said to the voice in her head, before letting out an ear-shattering scream, and running in the direction of her grandparents' house._

She was about half-way back through the woods when it suddenly occurred to her that Kacy wouldn't be able to get back on her own.

_Oh shoot! God, I can't turn back now!  I wish there was some way for her levitate to the flower field or something! There's no way that I'd ever be able to carry her home, and especially with some phsyco-pathic wolf on my heals! I'll have to come back in the morning with my grandfather. Oh, please be alright Kacy! _

 Lily kept running. She could see the field through the gaps in the foliage now. As she passed the last few saplings, and entered the edge of the tall-grass, she was met by a strange sight.

There. In the middle of the field. Was Kacy. _Floating._

Lily screamed once more, before running all the way back to her Grandparents house. This was just too weird.

As Lily continued to run screaming in the direction of her grandparents' house, she began to get the feeling that something wasn't quite right. She slowed down, as fear began to take control of her.

Lily nervously walked around to the front of the house. She slowly ascended the stairs of the porch, a feeling of forbidding engulfing her senses. 

As she was about to turn the door knob, a flash lit the window to her left, bathing the porch in a sickly-green light. It was quickly followed by the most blood-chilling scream Lily had ever-heard. It may have been because of the fact that it sounded like the scream of a person dying. Or maybe it was the fact that the voice sounded like her grandmother's.

_(ok, I know, I'm in WICKED BIG trouble right now, aren't I? Not only is this chapter INCREDIBLY short, but it also took me over a month to post it. oh, and I left you with another cliff-hanger. I'M SORRY!!!!!!! ok, this time, I swear the next chapter will be up soon! Special thanx to all of u R&Rers that are still loyal to me and put up with my laziness! Ok, I'll shut-up now and start writing the next chapter!)_


	6. Did he just make a popping noise?

Disclaimer: As much as I would love to go around saying that I'm J.K.R., and that all of this stuff belongs to me, much to my utter disappointment, it doesn't. fudge.

**~*Mentions that are Honorable*~**

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**_starborn – she who is too lazy 2 sign in~ __lol, glad u like the levitating dog! It was MY idea of course *winks @ magical wizard friend who levitates dogs for a living*_**

**_Joanna~ __ahhh! I know! The horrible, dreaded cliff-hanger! don't worry, there'll be plenty more in the future! Oh, and we'll be seeing Mr. Padfoot again soon!_**

**_Sinnient_****_ Evans~ __you really like my fic? Yay! lol, I hope I posted this chappie soon enough for ya!_**

**_Kitty Prydew~ __sorry I just stopped like that! And I'm afraid I might have done the same thing again in this chapter! *dodges flying pillows & pieces of doggy-doo-doo*_**

**_SugarGirl_****_~ __is "interesting" good or bad? lol, thanx for reviewing!_**

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Lily stood, frozen in terror. The mysterious voice kept telling her to run, but her feet wouldn't move.

Inside the house, the green light faded, and Lily heard what sounded like a body falling heavily onto the wooden floor.

The sound of foot-steps seemed to bring life back to Lily's limbs, and she managed to get up against the wall where she couldn't be seen through the window.

While Lily stood there for a few moments, trying to slow her racing heart, she heard some voices inside. She couldn't make out what they were saying, so she moved a little closer to the window.

_"Why didn't you put a quieting charm on the old woman before you killed 'er? Folks could 'ave heard that scream o' hers for miles!"_

_"Oh shut yer trap! His orders were to find the girl and get rid o' her as soon as possible! So why don't you quit yer yappin' and make yerself useful? You go and search the rest of the rooms on this floor, and I'll go check upstairs."_

With that, the first man began to ascend the stairs to the second floor. Lily heard the second man mutter something illegible, before walking off toward the back of the house. 

Once the Lily was sure that the men had left the room, she could barely stop herself from bursting through the front door and rushing to her grandmother's side. 

Who were these people?! Was her grandmother really….dead? And where was her grandfather? Was he alright? Had these horrible men hurt him too?Thousands of questions like these kept flickering through Lily's mind. She was so confused. The second man had said something about finding a girl. Were they looking for her?

At that thought, Lily's head swam and her eyes began to fog up. She sunk to the floor, attempting to stop the porch from spinning.

Lily took a deep breath, and tried to clear her thoughts. After a few moments, the patio furniture slowed down, and she could think a little clearer. At that point, the strange voice returned.

**_Are you feeling better?_**

****

By now, Lily was getting used to its presence, and automatically began responding to it with her thoughts.

_I guess. I just don't understand what's going on._

Lily was surprised to get a seemingly sincere response from the voice. 

**_I'll explain everything to you once we reach some place safe. Right now though, you have to get out of here._**

****

Unnerved by the urgency in its tone, Lily just nodded, as if she was talking to someone standing in front of her.

At that moment, Lily heard the footsteps returning to the front of the house. They were soon followed by voices.

_"Where could she be? We've checked every room in the damn house!"_

_"Aye, but we haven't checked outside yet."_

_"Are you mad?! Going outside around here, on a night like this! You do know what woods we're surrounded by right now!"_

_"What's the matter, ya chicken?"_

_"No! I just don't feel like loosin' a blinkin' arm tonight!"_

_"Fine then! You explain to the Dark Lord why that blasted girls still breathin' when we get back!"_

The last sentence was followed by a faint _pop. A few moments later, Lily heard another one. Then all was silent._

_What happened? What was that noise? Lily asked the voice._

**_Ask me again later. Right now, you need to get out of here._**

****

_How?_

**_Well, if they haven't cut the line, which I doubt THEY would think to do, then you should be able to use the phone._**

****

_Are you crazy?! How am I supposed to use the phone with them in there?_

**_They're gone! Now hurry up and use the phone before they come back!_**

****

_How can they be gone? What did they do, disappear into thin air?_

**_I guess you could say that._**

****

_What?!_

**_I'll explain later!! Now go call the damn cops! With them is the safest place you could be right now!_**

****

Lily stood there for a few moments, questioning whether or not she should trust this voice. How could someone just disappear into thin air? Eventually, against her better judgment, she slowly opened the front door.

_(a/n hey guys! Ok, much to most of your annoyance, I think I am developing a rather large liking to ending chappies with cliff-hangers. I know, I know, that's the worst thing possible I could do to you guys, but I just can't resist! Once again, thanx to all you faithful R&Rers! Byes!)_


	7. Cold, lifeless hands

Disclaimer: I AM J.K. ROWLING!!!! SO ALL OF THIS DOES IN FACT BELONG TO ME!!!!!!!!! Ok, if any of you believed a word of that, then you are WAY too gullible!

**~* Mentions That Thou Shall Speaketh of Honorably*~**

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**_VoldemortsIllegimateChild_****_~ __glad u like it so much! oh, and I torment you in such a cruel way because it's fun!! *mwahahahaha*_**

**_ambiguous_****_ joe~ __sorry I took so long to update! I know, cliffies are evil when cruel authors like me don't bother to update, but this time I have an excuse! My computer wasn't working for about 2 weeks, so I couldn't write at all!!_**

**_Stating-the-Obvious~ __I know, I'm probably driving you loyal reviewers insane with all these delayed updates! *sorry*_**

**_Alya1989262~ __thanx__ so much for the review! Hey, by any chance, do the numbers in __ur__ name stand for your birthday? If so, then *Happy B-day* a week late!!_**

**_starborn_****_~ __huh, interesting concept, I never thought about that phrase like that before…_**

**_me_****_~ __haha__! what a creative name! jkjk!! thanx for the review, glad u like my fic!!_**

**_SugarGirl_****_~ __glad to hear that's a good thing. lol. thanx for the review!!_**

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As Lily entered the house, and closed the door behind her, the silence hit her like waves breaking against a jagged, rocky shoreline. There wasn't the sound of clanging pots and pans as her grandmother bustled about in the kitchen, or the sound of the gentle rustle of paper, as her grandfather skimmed through the headlines while sitting in his favorite chair. There was only the whisper of wind in the trees, coming from a window opened earlier to help ease the heat of the hot, summer night. Even the crickets had apparently ceased their endless chirping.

Slowly, Lily surveyed her surroundings. It appeared there had been some sort of struggle. Chairs and coffee tables were upturned, a vase laid shattered on the floor, the wild flowers, which Lily had picked only that morning for her grandparents, lying in a small pool of water, slowly wilting in the warm, humid air.

It only took Lily a few moments to find the figure of her grandfather lying motionless on the floor behind the sofa. She shrank from the sight of his still body, not bothering to check his life-pulse, knowing in her heart what she would find if she did.

She turned around, in search of her grandmother, hoping against fait that she had somehow survived. Lily approached the stairs, and slowly began to ascend them, only to look up to see the limp, lifeless hand of her grandmother hanging over the edge of the turn in the steps, the rest of her body hidden behind the flower-print wall.

Lily could do nothing, but slowly back down the stairs, her hand going to her mouth to contain a sob.

She ran blindly into the kitchen, to escape the horrid scene, stumbling over a chair, and cutting her left hand on a piece of glass from the vase. Lily didn't notice however, and used the hand to wipe the tears that were burning her eyes, as she rose to her feet, mingling them with the blood that was flowing freely from the wound.

Lily found the phone, and clumsily took it off the receiver. She was about to dial the number for the police, when she paused.

**_What's wrong?_**

****

Lily slid down the wall, and onto the floor, pulling her knees to her chest, and resting her head in her arms as her emotions took control of her. _What am I supposed to tell them? _Lily thought angrily, as tears once again began to run, unchecked, down her face, and into her folded arms. _That my grandparents were murdered by some sort of green-flash, while I was out in the woods, searching for my dog, who had been attacked by a rabid, mutant wolf? And that my grandparents' murderers disappeared into thin air, with a 'pop', and I know it's safe to call them now because the little voice I've been hearing inside my head for the last 2 weeks told me!" Lily screamed the last bit, before completely breaking down, and sobbing uncontrollably.___

The voice disappeared for a few minutes, allowing Lily to cry in peace, until she eventually ran out of tears, and sat up, wiping her eyes.

**_Are you okay now? _It asked, a hint of concern in its voice.**

_Yes, or at least as "okay" as you can be when your grandparents have just been killed!_

**_Look, you've got to get out of here, now. Call the police. You can tell them that you were out in the woods, looking for your dog (leave out the wolf-bit) and when you came back, you found the house like this. I promise I'll explain everything later, but right now, the most important thing is your safety._**

****

Lily nodded, too tired to make any other form of response. Sighing, she slowly stood up, leaning against the wall to help her shaking legs support her weight. Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number for the police.

As soon as he heard her story, the officer on the other end of the line quickly took action, telling her that they'd be there in fifteen minutes, and that she should stay where she was until they arrived.

_As if I have anywhere to go? Lily thought sarcastically, but not daring to say out loud._

The truth was, she was happy to oblige, as she was too tired to even move her legs. So much had happened! The room spun if she even attempted to recap on everything that had happened. All she wanted to do was sleep….

(a/n I was just gonna leave you guys there, but I since its been such a long time since I've updated, I decided that that would be way too short! So consider yourselves lucky and continue on your merry little path of reading! ok, maybe not so merry in THIS chapter, but you know what I mean!)

Lily was awoken suddenly by the vibration of footsteps on the wooden floor of the house. Jerking, startled, Lily groggily lifted her head from its uncomfortable position against the wall in the corner.

_"Oi!__ Over here! She's alive!" she heard someone call from seemingly far away. Where was she? What had happened?_

As the blurry curtain of sleep lifted from her mind, Lily was hit full-force by the memory of what happened. She must have only been asleep for a matter of minutes, but it seemed as if it had been years.

Shaking her head to rid it of any remnants of sleep, Lily looked up to find herself face to face with a young woman.

"You poor dear!" The woman said, before turning and yelling into the living room. "Bob! Go grab a blanket from the car!" Then she turned back to Lily. "How are you feeling?"

"Ok, I guess." Lily answered numbly. "Just a little tired." She added as an after thought.

"Your name's Lily, correct?" the woman asked as 'Bob' joined them with a blanket. Lily nodded. "My name's Mary." She rapped the warm, wool blanket around Lily, which was completely unnecessary on the warm summer night. Then, she helped Lily to her feet, and began to lead her towards the front door. "I'm going to take you down to the police car now. Then Bob and I will drive you back to the police station. Once there, we'll find you a good bed, where you can spend the night. How's that sound?"

Once again, Lily could do nothing but nod. They had exited the house, and were now making their way down the steps of the patio. Bob had run ahead of them and was removing random paraphernalia from the back seat to make room for her.

Lily climbed into the car with the help of Mary, who then ran around the back of the car, and hopped into the front passenger's seat. Bob started the car, and began to back out of the driveway. As they backed onto the rarely-used street, Lily managed to gather up enough courage to glance back at the house.

There were two more police cars parked in the driveway, along with an ambulance, which was now being loaded with two stretchers, covered with white clothe. Lily gulped back tears, but continued to survey the scene. It had occurred to her that Kacy had been left back out in the field. She was relieved to see two officers returning from the back of the house, one with Kacy in his arms, staggering under her immense weight. Lily would have laughed at the sight, if it had not been such a serious and mournful moment. 

Lily briefly wondered what would happen to Kacy, but dismissed the momentary concern, realizing that she would most likely be joining her at the police station. The though comforted her, knowing now that she wouldn't be alone.

"Not that I'm ever alone these days." Muttered Lily at the memory of the voice.

"What was that dear?" questioned Mary from the front of the car.

"Nothing." Lily replied quickly. The last thing she needed was everyone knowing she had spent the last few weeks talking to some stranger in her head. Dismissing that thought along with her previous ones, Lily looked out the window.

The moon was so full and bright tonight.

(a/n I should have the next chappie up real soon, I already have it all written out on paper, I just have to type it up!! thanx to anyone who bothers to read this fic and an x-tra special thanx to anyone who finds it in their heart to hit the little button in the corner and help boost my self-confidence!)


	8. The HalfWolf

Disclaimer: For those of you who have a little trouble understanding concepts, you know, whenever someone speaks, it just kinda goes in one ear and comes out the other: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING IN THIS STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well, I _do own the plot, but THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!_

**~*Menciones Honorable*~**

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**_Izabell_****_- __glad u think my fic's so cool!!_**

**_silent-_****_wishes- __thanx__!! I wanted to try to make this fic as original as possible!!_**

**_Cay- __you're right, I've got no clue what that means I guess I should watch Stargate SG-1!!! I won't say who the voice is (to be honest, I'm not too sure myself!) thanx for reviewing!!_**

**_Krystal_****_ Lily Potter- __here's __ur__ update!! lol, gald to here _ur___ little brother likes my story too! _**

**_Flamelle_****_- __I don't know why I love cliffies so much, I just do! I won't say who that wolf is, but I will tell you that u'll find out if it was Remus in the next chappie_**

**_Alya1989262- __thanx__, glad u liked that chappie. 262 is _ur___ fav number?? Interesting… u don't find many people with that as their fav!! lol, thanx for being an ever faithful reviewer!!_**

**_Stating-the-obvious- __"later dayz", r u a fan of the weekenders?? lol. like I told Cay, I think we'll all find out who that voice is soon!_**

**_starborn_****_-_****_lol__, thanx for boosting my self-confidence!! and thanx for being another ever-faithful reviewer_**

**_Fairy D. Jamie L. Amelia B.- __I PROMISE THAT EVERYONE WILL FIND OUT WHO THE VOICE IS SOON!! AHHHHH!!! Sorry, had a little breakdown there. Well, anyway, thanx for adding me to _ur___ fav authors!! u reviewers rock!!_**

**_fairypixie3-_****_it was sad, wasn't it?? and the next few chapters aren't going to be much better unfortunately. Well, the sun will shine again, all clouds must pass. Thanx for the review!!_**

**_Jen (from school)- __lol__! glad to know u approve, my life has been completely turned upside-down because of it. haha, u shouldn't eat to much sugar either, u almost gave her a heart attack!! Haha, well see u ikn school!!_**

**_ambiguous_****_ joe- __ur__ welcome!! Computers ARE evil, and so are Spanish and social studies treachers who assign REALLY big and important projects that are worth three test grades at the same time!!!_**

**_Mountain_********_Peak-_****_lol__, shh, and I'm working away at the science project right now too!! Glad u like it so much!! I'm gonna read urs as soon as I can!!_**

Thanx to all of u reviewers out there, and to everyone who's read my fic!! I'm sorry it took so long to post this, but u try to find time to work on a fic when ur working on a Spanish and a Social Studies project that are both worth three test grades!!!!!!!!!****

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It was a relatively long drive to downtown, where the police station was located. Now that there was no emergency, Bob was driving at the slow pace of 20 mph.

Lily gazed out the window. They were not even halfway through the thick woods that covered the northern portion of the small town. Every now and then, she caught a glimpse of the bright, full moon, which illuminated the dark night.

Suddenly, the car jerked to a stop. Lily flew forward as a result of her momentum, barely managing to remain in her seat.

Regaining her balance, Lily looked up just in time to see a shadowy figure dart across the road.

Bob swore, and Mary smacked him on the back of the head, before turning around and asking Lily if she was alright.

"Yes," replied Lily, now wide awake, "but what the heck was that?"

"We're not sure. It looked like a wolf." Answered Mary, as she and Bob slowly exited the car, pistols in hand. "You stay here, Lily." She called over her shoulder.

Lily quickly slid across the seat to the right hand window, to have a better place to view what was happening. Then she rolled down the window so she would be able to hear.

The creature was on the side of the road, glaring at the two officers, eyes ablaze, reflecting the headlights of the car. Lily could just catch the glimmer of saliva on the barred fangs, but the rest of its body was enveloped in shadow.

Bob began to approach the animal, attempting to calm it down with phrases such as "It's alright girl,…or, err, boy" and "calm down, we ain't gonna ya any, that is, unless you attack _us_, then we'll probably have to shoot ya…"

Needless to say, these didn't seem to help any. Instead, the animal seemed to get even more agitated. It made a sudden towards Bob, who tried to move out of the way.

He wasn't quick enough, however, and let out a howl of pain as the creature sank its fangs, deep into his arm.

In order to attack Bob, the animal was forced to leave its refuge in the shadows, and Lily could now clearly see its whole form.

She stared at the creature in horrified fascination. Its head was that of a wolf, covered in thick, brown hair. Yet, its eyes shown with an intelligence not found anywhere throughout the animal kingdom. Lily's own eyes slowly made their down over the rest of the creature's body. The brown hair continued down over its shoulders, across its back, and onto its front and back legs, only not quite as thickly. Lily was startled to see that in the place of front legs, the animal had heavily muscular arms of, what seemed like, a _man. As she looked closer, she noticed the ragged remnants of a maroon T-shirt stretched around its upper-body. Its legs were like that of a wolf, only twisted and enlarged. Protruding from the back of what once might have been a pair of khaki shorts, was a long, tangled tail, which added the finishing touches to a monster, normally only found in the nightmarish realms of the imagination._

In the meantime, Bob had managed to free himself from the jaws of the mutated wolf. Unfortunately, the arm it had chosen to lock onto was his gun-arm, and now hung limply, and useless at his side, the muscles torn by creature's sharp teeth. His gun lay on the ground forgotten.

"Bob! Are you alright?!" cried Mary, as he backed away from the animal, which had returned to the safety of the shadows. It would not remain there long, however, now that it had tasted the sweet flavor of human blood.

"I'm ok Mary." He said with a grimace. " Just lemme get my gun…" Bob added as he bent down to retrieve his weapon. Mary attempted to stop him, but it was too late. The half-wolf lunged at his unprotected back.

Mary could do nothing. If she tried to shoot the monster, she might accidentally shoot Bob instead. She also couldn't do anything manually, for fear that she might cause herself to get attacked.

Bob let out one more strangled scream, before falling eternally silent.

The creature remained there for a few moments, devouring the flesh of its victim. Mary just stood, frozen with shock and horror. Her hand fell limply to her side, dropping her pistol, with a clang, onto the pavement.

That was a mistake.

The half-wolf looked up, its eyes shining with anticipation at the thought of new prey. It slowly and stealthily made its way towards Mary.

The officer's eyes widened with sudden fear. She ran back to the car. She had just opened the door, and had been about to jump in, when the monster made a leap for her leg.

"Look out!" cried Lily, but she was too late.

Mary yelled in agony as she was wrenched from the car. As she continued to wail in pain, the creature locked its jaws around her throat, jerking its head, and snapping her neck, silencing her screams.

Lily let out a sob, choking back the vile she could feel rising in her throat. How could this be happening?

The monster looked up, noticing her for the first time. Its eyes began to glow with eagerness.

Lily leaned forward, trying to reach the door that Mary had left open. The handle was just out of her reach. The half-wolf began to inch towards, preparing for its lethal leap. Stretching her arm as long as it could go, Lily's figures closed around the handle.

Pulling back with her whole body weight, Lily managed to close the door just in time, causing the creature to slam painfully against the side of the car. It recovered quickly however, and its intelligent quickly began to search for another way in.

Its gaze fell upon the open window.

Lily noticed this too late, and the monster's head burst through the window. Lily shrank away from it, bumping her own head against the door behind her.

Luckily, the half-wolf was too large to fit through the small opening. With the use of its unearthly muscles, however, it was slowly forcing its way through.

Lily realized that if there was any hope of her surviving, she had to get out of the car. Reaching behind her, not daring to take her eyes off the monster, she found the handle, and began to turn it. Her hands, made clumsy by fear, took a few attempts before they managed to get it open. Lily stumbled backward, and out the door. Then she ran for her life.

The half-wolf was stuck, hanging half in and half out of the window. It struggled for a moment, using its strong legs to pry itself loose. Twisting like a cat as it fell; the monster landed nimbly onto its feet.

Lily ran into the forest, searching for somewhere to hide. Instinct told her to climb a tree. Looking around, she found a tall oak that had branches relatively low to the ground.

Grabbing hold of a limb, she swung a leg over, straddling the branch. Stopping to catch her breath, Lily listened, her heart rising into her throat at the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth towards her.

Lily lifted her feet onto the branch and stood, her heart racing. Pausing to find her balance, she lifted herself up onto the next branch.

And not a minute too soon. Where her leg had been not but a moment ago, there were now the gaping jaws of the half-wolf, eager to once again taste the sweet flavor of human flesh.

Lily continued to climb, until she was about 20 ft. off the ground. Then, checking to making sure half-wolf wouldn't be able to reach her, she leaned against the trunk of the tree, and cried.

(a/n ok, I'm betting a lot of you are now thinking, what the heck is Lily gonna do now that she's up a tree. Well, I promise that most of your questions will be answered in the next few chappies. I can't believe that this is already chapter 8, and Lily doesn't even know magic exists!! Well, anyway, the next update should be soon, as I'm almost done writing the next chappie. Thanx to all u faithful r/rer's, u know who u r!!)


	9. Many Meetings

Disclaimer: I give up, if u haven't figured it out by now, then, as Roxie Hart would say, "Good luck to ya".

**Mentions that are Honorable because I say so!!!**

**_Fairy D. Jamie L. Amelia B.~ __I know, it is sad, isn't it? well, I promise it will get better REALLY soon!! (I can't stand to write anything this sad anymore!)_**

**_lacy_****_~ __wow!! Thanx, I can't believe you think this is one of the best fics you've read!!_**

**_Alya1989262~ __thanx__ for reviewing!!_**

**_Sita_****_~ __wow, I don't think I've eva had some one say that much in just one review!! Lol, thanx for the review!!!_**

**_snowflake_****_~ __haha__, I do have quite a few cliff-hangers in this fic, don't i? I think I'll get to the point soon, if u hang around. Haha!!_**

**_Izabell_****_~ __here you go!!_**

**_Cay~ __still talking in riddles, huh?__ Jkjk, thanx, glad to know u think my story is "hella" good!!_**

**_sweetpea_****_~ __your name doesn't happen to be associated with the scent, is it? lol, thanx for reviewing!!_**

**_silent-wishes_****_~ __wolves do look freaky in car lights, don't they?? Thanx for being an ever-faithful reader!!!_**

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**_badangel00013~ __here's the next chappie! Keep up R&Ring!!_**

**_Céline_****_~ __wow, glad to here you like it so much!! thanx for all of the compliments!! I've never felt so loved and appreciated!! Haha!!! oh, and James&co. are 11 like Lily, well around that, u know, in the same grade. Have fun with the next chappie!!_**

**_starborn_****_~ __i__ think you'll find this chapter very informative, lol!! thanx for being another ever-faithful reviewer!!_**

**_Sugargirl_****_~ __here you go, glad you like it!!_**

**I just want to apologize to all of you readers who have been waiting for this update!! It took forever for me to post it, but to help make up for it, I've made this chappie extra long!! So enjoy!!!**

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"What was that?" asked James. He was hovering about 30 ft. (a/n approx. 9 m) off the ground, in the back of his family's mansion. Although it was hours past sundown, he could see perfectly because of an illuminating spell his father had cast on the yard. He had been playing quidditch with his best friends Remus and Sirius when he thought he faintly heard a scream coming from woods in the back of them.

"Huh?" asked Sirius as he flew up next to him.

 "What was what?" added Remus as he joined them.

"That noise, it sounded like someone was…" he paused, "Wait. Listen! There it is again!"

"I hear it!!" exclaimed Sirius, very proud of himself.

"Didn't it sound like someone was…"

"Screaming!" supplied Sirius happily, even more proud of himself.

"I thought no one lived around here for miles, James?" questioned Remus.

"They don't." He answered distractedly. "The ministry made sure of that, you know, because of the werewolves. Although, I think I remember my dad mentioning something about a small muggle road about a mile west from here…"

"You don't think…" pushed Remus, concern evident in his voice.

"Think what?" asked Sirius, always one step behind everyone as a result of taking constant trips to his own little world, filled with pink fluffy bunnies and flowers.

"James, are your parents home?" Remus continued, ignoring Sirius's question.

"I think so." Replied James, as he began to descend, hopping off his broom and continuing at a run with Remus right behind him.

Sirius remained in the air, puzzled by his friends' sudden actions. After few moments of _deep reflective thought_, he shrugged his shoulders and followed suite.

James ran through the kitchen door, glancing around for his mother, who was usually finishing up breakfast preparations at about this time. Despite the large amount of servants who were employed at the Potter Mansion, Mrs. Potter refused to allow anyone but herself cook the family meals. Not seeing her, he ran out of the kitchen, and into the study, hoping to find his father. James was surprised to discover that he was missing as well.

Remus caught up with James, and together they began to search the rest of the enormous house.

Meanwhile, Sirius strolled into the house. Noticing that his friends were nowhere to be found (not that he looked very hard), he decided to make himself at home and have some dessert.

Sirius spent a few moments arguing with himself about whether he should have chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Finally, unable to choose between the two, he decided to have both. Digging through the fridge, Padfoot uncovered the Potters' supply of dessert toppings. Putting everything in one huge bowl, he plopped himself in a bar stool, and dug in.

Being Sirius, he managed to slop half of the sundae over the edge of the bowl, and onto the counter, getting some on a sheet of paper that had been resting there.

He clumsily cleaned the note off. Reading it quickly as he wiped some chocolate syrup from face with the side of his hand, he walked into the enormous front hall of the Potter mansion.

Putting his hands along the side of his mouth, he called in an exaggeratedly loud voice, "Hey Prongsie! There's a note for you!" Listening with satisfaction as his voice resounded throughout the numerous rooms and halls, Sirius waited, tapping his foot.

A few moments later, Remus' and James' heads appeared over the railing at the top of the grand balcony. Gasping for breath, their faces flushed from their tiresome, not to mention, fruitless search of the grand estate, they stared at Sirius expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, you don't expect me to climb all the up there to personally deliver it to you?" Sirius asked, with a look of true irritation on his face.

"Just read it out loud!" called James and Remus in unison. 

"Lazy today, aren't we?" Padfoot attempted to mutter, but his voice still echoed through the hall.

The two boys just shook their heads.

"_Dear James," read Sirius. "__Your father and I had to pay a sudden visit to the Ministry. We most likely won't be home until _11:30___ or so. Take care, and be sure to be in bed by __10:00__. All my love, Mom."_

"It sure would have been nice to have known that before we spent ten minutes searching the whole house." commented James.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Remus. "We can't just forget about that person out in the woods, they're obviously in trouble."

"I don't know." Answered James, shaking his head, "I don't know."

"Why don't we just fly out there and help them?" asked Sirius, finally understanding what they were talking about. "Your mom said they won't be home until 11:30, and it's only 10."

"I dunno, my mom said she wanted us in bed by now."

"Oh come on Jamsie! Someone obviously needs help! Why else would they be screaming? You can't just ignore them." Persisted Remus.

"Yeah, you're right. Come on, let's go!"

And with that, James took off down the stairs, with Remus right behind him.

The boys charged out of the house, jumped onto their broomsticks, and kicked off the ground, soaring into the air.

They had only to wait for a few moments before another scream emitted from the depths of the forest. Following the sound, they set off above the woods.

James peered down through the thick foliage of the forest, trying to make something of the darkness the engulfed the world beneath the bows.

The screams had ended now, and the boys were having trouble recalling where they had been coming from. They flew blindly ahead, looking for some sort of sign, an indication that someone was in trouble.

Suddenly, the trees parted, revealing the muggle road the James' father had told him about.

Peering down, he noticed one of those muggle contraption, a whachyamacallit, oh yeah, car. Looking closely, he saw two people lying on the ground; one near the car, the other in the dirt on the side of the road. They were each laying in a pool of something that glimmered in the moonlight. James gulped. Blood.

He turned in his seat, motioning for Remus and Sirius to land.

Landing softly on the ground, James ran to the man on the side of the road. He was about a yard away from him, when he froze in his tracks.

"What is it James?" asked Remus as he caught up with him, not noticing the body. James said nothing, just stood there, staring, with a look of terror contorting the features of his face.

Following his gaze, he saw the body for the first time.

"Oh my God…" he whispered, his voice fading. Before him lay what must have once been the body of a man. Its flesh was mauled, revealing the white glimmer of bone in some places. One of his arms had been wrenched clean from its socket, and now lay at his side, barely recognizable. The man's face had not been graced with the peaceful look granted to most when they meet their demise. Instead, it was frozen for the rest of eternity with an expression of pure horror, combined with intense, indescribable pain. Remus could barely look at it. The eyes stood wide, filled with fear. The few points on the body where the flesh hadn't been ripped and transformed into a ragged, bloody mass had turned paler than the moonlight reflected in the blood that formed a lake around him.

Remus turned from the sight, unable to look any longer.

Sirius finally ran over to join them (he had been delayed by a rather embarrassing event, including a broomstick and a large tree branch that he swore, even in the years after he left Hogwarts, just jumped right out in front of him).

Unlike Remus, Sirius noticed the corpse right away, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Having a rather severe case of hematophobia (a/n fear of blood), he mumbled groggily (sounding surprisingly similar to Donkey, from Shrek), "Is…that……….blood?" before falling flat on his face, completely unconscious.

James turned and emptied his stomach, until there was nothing left.  Then he fell to his knees on the pavement, exhausted.

Remus bent down next to the body, trying to block the ghastly images of how this possibly could have happened, from his mind. Bending over the man's head, he used two to fingers, and gently closed the man's endlessly staring eyes.

Then Remus walked over to the woman who lay next to the car. She wasn't nearly as mauled as the man, but Remus was sure that she was dead with one glance. Her head stuck out at an angle that could only be possible if her neck was snapped. She had been granted a look of peace, however, and her features lay as if she were merely in a gentle sleep.

Turning back to James, he noticed he appeared to be feeling slightly better now. With his help, they managed to revive Sirius, who only managed to faint all over again when he glanced over at the body of the woman.

Giving up, the two boys left Sirius propped up against a tree. Finding another tree nearby with a broad trunk, they plopped down next to each other.

"How do you think this could have happened?" asked Remus, staring, with a dazed look in his eyes, in the direction of the bodies.

"I don't know." Muttered James. "I wish my dad was here."

"What do we do now?"

"Go back to my house I guess. We can put Sirius on the back of your broom if he doesn't wake up in a minute. I'll carry his broom."

It was silent as the boys sat there for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

Both were suddenly brought back to this world, however, when a scream suddenly pierced the night.

"There must be another muggle!" exclaimed James. "Quick, put Sirius on your broom. It's coming from the woods on the opposite side of the street. If we hurry, maybe we can stop whatever happened to those two" he glanced over at the bodies, "from happening to him."

"Or her, that scream sounded like a girl." Added Remus.

"Wait, what about Sirius?" asked James, as they mounted their brooms.

"Let's not bring him with us, it'll be difficult enough trying to fly through that forest, let alone balance him on the front of a broom."

"Yeah, good idea. Wait, what should we do with him then?"

"How about sticking him in a tree?"

"Okay."

They perched him up in a tree, tucked his broom under his arm, and then the two conscious boys took to the air.

They flew slowly after entering the forest, flying slowly so that they would see the muggle that was in trouble and get off their broomsticks before they startled her, and to avoid crashing headlong into a tree branch like some one else they knew.

They had a little trouble finding the girl at first, but Remus' sharp eyes soon noticed some movement in one particular tall maple.

He nudged James to get his attention, then pointed and mouthed the words "she's over there".

James nodded in response, and the two flew off in that direction.

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Lily was in hysterics. While she had been grieving over everything that had occurred that night, the half-wolf had somehow found a way up the tree, and was slowly climbing up after its prey.

It had moved a rotting log that had laid a few yards away, under the branch Lily had originally used to climb into the tree.

Suddenly, Lily saw something move to her right. For a split-second, she had the notion that there were two of those half-wolf monsters. Lily quickly realized that she was wrong, however she was just as startled by what had really appeared.

There, in front of her, were two boys. Floating.

"James!?!" Lily screeched. This was just too much for her.

"Lily?" said James, just as confused.

Lily stared at James, dumbfounded. "You-you're floa-floa-floating!"

"You know her?!" asked Remus, ignoring Lily's stuttering.

"She's that muggle from the airport!" he replied.

_"On-a, on-a……BROOM!!!"_

"She is?? How the heck did she get here???"

"How should I know?!? Let's just get out of here before that thing gets up here!"

Suddenly the monster's ugly head reared over the edge of the branch.

Lily screamed.

James took a swing at the half-wolf with the end of his broomstick. The monster lost its balance, but made a wild grab at Remus to steady himself. Its teeth hooked onto the bottom of his jeans. The creature's momentum was too great, however, and instead it pulled both of them down. Using its cat-like reflexes, the half-wolf landed on its feet, but still stumbled and fell onto its side from the force of its fall.

James tried to catch hold of Remus' hand, but grasped only air. "Remus!" he cried.

Remus fell, arms flailing, trying to catch hold of anything that would stop his fall. As he came to the last branch before a sickening impact, his hand finally caught hold of something.

Clinging to the branch for dear life, Remus looked down.  He was only six feet above the ground now. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to shake the fear that numbed his mind.

"Remus, look out!"

Suddenly, the branch Remus was clinging to snapped. He fell, landing on his back, on the hard ground, the dry, dead leaves barely cushioning his fall.

He lay there for a moment, stunned.

All of a sudden, he heard a rustle in the bushes to his side. Looking over, he watched as the monster came hurtling towards him.

Scrambling to his feet, he tried to move out of the way, but the half-wolf dug its teeth deep into his lower arm.

Remus gasped in pain as the creature dug its fangs deeper into his flesh.

"Remus!" Suddenly James was at his side. He used his broomstick, feet, and fists to drive the monster away. It wouldn't release its steel-like grip, however, and just hung there stubbornly until James landed him a lucky punch, right in the eye.

The creature howled in agony as it released Remus, before running off through the undergrowth.

**(a/n well, there you go. I know, I know, it took me forever to up-date, but this chappie's extra long, so be thankful!! Haha, well, don't forget to R&R!!)**


	10. The Wizarding World

Disclaimer: Nothing except for the plot and anything you don't recognize from the book is mine.

**~*~ Honorable Mentions ~*~**

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**_Damia – Queen of the Gypsi's ~ __Well, I'm glad you found it again too! Lol, thanx for reviewing!_**

**_Alya1989262~ __Thanx for that little encouraging comment. I seem to be over that unfortunate road block now, and will hopefully be writing a lot more!_**

**_Cay~ __Haha, I guess it was a little corny of him, I didn't mean for it to come across that way. James is just a responsible kid, who doesn't want to let his parents down._**

**_Cay(again)~ __well here you go! Oh, and no, the poem doesn't have to be related to HP, and if you like (and if it doesn't completely flame my fic) I'll post it in the beginning of the next chappie!_**

**_Sirius lives~ __ thanx for reviewing! I tried to read your fics, but couldn't find them. Weird, huh? By the way, is your name by any chance inspired by the new Hp book?_**

**_Heehee~ __glad to hear you liked the first chappie so much! I hope you like the rest!_**

**_Little by little~ __thanx for such a great review! Hey, you know, your name would make a great title for a fic, you should write one!_**

**_Whatdyasay?~ __that chapter was a bit bloody, wasn't it? I guess I could have toned the graphics down just little, huh? Oh well, I can tell you that nothing like that should be happening anywhere in the near future. Glad you liked my idea about Remus!_**

**_Carmel March~ __Wow, thanks so much for putting me on your favs list! You're the most excited reviewer I've had in a while! Here you go, and James does more than just fly home on his broomstick with the rest of the Marauders!_**

**Well here you go everybody! But before you guys start reading this chappie, I just got an idea from reading one of your reviews *cough*Cay*cough*. If any of you have a short story or poem or song or anything else that you'd like to post in the beginning of my next chapter (in case you don't have an account, or simply just feel like it, I dunno), either put it in a review that you make, or send it to me at my email address: prongs1andonly@comcast.net. Thanks once again to all of my readers, especially my reviewers. Here it goes!**

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James found Remus's broom on the ground nearby, handed it to him, and then they all kicked off into the sky. They soared off through the branches, coming to a hover next to the limb Lily was perched on.

"Are you okay?" James asked Remus, breathlessly once they reached the safety of the trees. He took a Swiss-army knife (one of the few useful muggle inventions!) from his pocket, and used it to cut off strips from his T-shirt, making a make-shift bandage.

Remus winced as he experimentally moved his arm. "Yeah, I think I'll be alright until we get back to your house."

James glanced at Lily, who had fainted, finally giving into the darkness that had been threatening to over-take her since the moment Remus fell.

"Do you think you can fly?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well you're going to have to make it at least back to the road. Then maybe we can revive Sirius again, and you can ride with him. Until then, you'll have to manage on your own; I can only carry one person." Explained James as he lifted the unconscious Lily as gently as he could (which wasn't very gentle, considering the fact that they were in a tree) and maneuvered her onto the front of his broom.

Remus took a moment to adjust the bandage on his arm before getting onto his own broom.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I can be after having my arm mangled by a monster." He said with a half-hearted laugh.

James gave him a tired smile and then the two Marauders took off through the tangled mess of branches.

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They made it back to Sirius's tree without error (unless you count the fact that James nearly dropped Lily twice, and almost forgot to make her duck when they flew under a rather low branch).

They floated next to Sirius's branch for a few moments, listening to him say phrases such as 'cute little pink bunnies' and 'pink bunnies are my friends' in hi sleep, before waking him.

"Whaa….?" Mumbled Sirius, as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"Come on, wake up!" said James, as he continued to shake him.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake Mommy." He paused to scratch his head, before letting out a huge yawn during which he managed to get out the words: "Hey, who's the girl?"

"Just Lily from the airport." James said casually, knowing whatever he said would just go in one ear and out the other.

"That's nice." Yawned Sirius, before turning on his side and snuggling up next to his broom once more.

"Sirius!" Remus practically screamed in his ear. As a result, Sirius jumped three feet in the air, and almost fell off the branch all together. At least he was definitely awake now.

They almost lost him again, however, when his eyes strayed towards Remus's arm.

"Is, is that….?"

"No! No, it's just tomato juice." James said hurriedly. "We, uh, stopped for a snack earlier."

"Yeah, that's it. I just spilt some on my arm." The last thing they needed was two unconscious people.

"Oh! Did you save me any?"

Remus let out an exasperated sigh and laid his head in his hand. "No, Sirius."

"Well, that wasn't very nice!"

"Look, Sirius, we don't have time for this. It's getting late, and we have to get Lily to a doctor." Said James. "Remus's broom is acting a little weird," he glanced at Remus, who nodded his head vigorously, "so he's going to ride with you, ok?"

"Yeah, sure, as long as I get something to eat when we get back. Being unconscious can make a guy awfully hungry, you know."

Sirius mounted his broom and Remus climbed on behind him. Then the three boys and their unconscious cargo took off.

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"James! Where have you been?!?" cried his father as they landed in the backyard of the Potter Mansion. "Your mother and I have been worried sick! An empty house! No note! Anything could have happened to you!"

"Dad, can we just put off the lecture for a minute?! Lily's unconscious, Remus got bit on the arm by some wolf thing, and there's two mauled muggles lying out there in the woods!" James managed to say all in one breathe.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Mrs. Potter at the sight of Lily and Remus. "Robert, Maggie! Please come here!"

The two servants were soon outdoors, wondering what all of the excitement was about. They quickly found out, however, and immediately helped to bring Lily and, the now very faint from blood loss, Remus inside.

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Lily woke long after the first rays of dawn fell through the window at her bedside, and onto her closed eyelids.

She sat up, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Looking around, she realized that she hadn't a single clue as to where she was.

Lily glanced down at her clothes and discovered that someone had dressed her in a nightgown. The thought of some stranger undressing her sent shivers down the eleven-year-old's spine.

Giving her whole body a shake as if to knock the notion from her mind, Lily climbed out of the huge, queen-size bed, and began to take in her surroundings. She quickly located her old clothes on a chair placed to the side of a dresser. The chair, like all of the furniture in the room, was made of cherry, Queen Ann style. At the sight of her dirty, ripped clothes, Lily was violently reminded of the horrid events of the night before. She tore her gaze from the garments, banishing the ghastly memories from her mind by entertaining herself with becoming acquainted with the room.

In contrast to the dark red-brown of the wood furniture, all of the fabric in the room was a variety of whites, creams, and golds. The bed had a marvelous cream colored silk canopy the Lily had always dreamed of having. The walls were painted a deeper cream color, with a Victorian border filled with more golds and whites.

The dresser had a tri-fold mirror, and its surface was adorned with a vase of white roses, along with a silver antique brush, mirror, and comb.

Stacked carefully on the floor at the end of the bed were ornately decorated shams and throw pillows. Alongside its head was a nightstand with a small cream and gold lamp. Lastly, on the wall opposite of the two heavily-curtained windows, to the left of a small walk-in-closet, was a tall bookcase. The top shelf was decorated with a variety of small knick-knacks. As Lily moved closer, she saw that they were china and glass figures of animals and children. There were deer, doves, toddlers bending down to pet snowy-white rabbits. As Lily gazed at the small figurines, she came across one that caught her eye. It was a small white kitten sitting on an elaborate pastel-blue cushion. She carefully took it off the shelf to look at it more closely. She discovered a golden handle on the bottom of the cushion, and realized it was a music box. Lily was about to turn the handle when she heard voices from outside her door.

Lily quickly replaced the figurine and backed away from the set of shelves, fearful that the owner of the house should discover her digging through their possessions.

She stood silently, unconsciously holding her breath, waiting for the voices' owners to enter the room. As she listened, she realized that they had passed her door, and were continuing down the hallway. Her curiosity aroused, Lily crept over to the door, silently opening it a crack.

She watched backs of two men dressed in suits made their way around the corner and apparently began to descend some stairs. She perked up her ears to make out their conversation.

"So our worst fears have indeed been confirmed." Said the taller of the two men. He had black hair, was wearing a suit, and straight, uniform glasses that gave him a rather strict, superior look.

"Yes, the first stages of transformation are already showing. The poor boy is already in a great amount of pain. Unfortunately, things will only get worse for him as the day goes by, and there's nothing that can be done to ease his discomfort." Said the other. He had brown hair, and carried a bag that Lily recognized as the ones carried around by doctors in some old fashioned movies she had seen.

Her curiosity got the better of her, however, and she crept down the stairs after them.

Pausing behind a corner, she watched as the two men walked into what appeared to be a study. She listened as they continued their conversation.

"And what about the girl?" asked the first man.

"Well, her physical state seems fine, minus a few cuts and bruises. It's her emotional state that you should be more concerned about. I understand that she lost both her grandparents last night?" questioned the doctor.

"Not only that, but we believe she may have witnessed the deaths of two muggle police officers."

By now, Lily had realized that the girl they were taking about was her. She was getting tired of not knowing where she was and not understanding what had been happening for the last twelve hours, and decided she should ask someone. Building up her courage, she entered the room.

"Umm…excuse me." She began hesitantly.

The two men looked up, surprised. The one in the suit was first to recover. "Yes, how may we help you?"

"Uh…well, could you tell me where I am?"

The man in the suit looked as if he were about to laugh. "You're at the Potter Mansion." He told her.

"Only a few miles away from your grandparents' house."

"Wait, how do you know where my grandparents live, and how could this house be anywhere near them; no one lives for miles around there!" Lily paused, remembering how she had found her grandparents last night. "Are, are they okay?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'm afraid not. They were killed." He answered quietly.

"Why?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes. "Why would anyone want to hurt them!?"

"Come here, sit down." he said to Lily, gesturing to an arm chair next to him. "William, do you mind?"

"No, of course not. It's about time I got back to St. Mungo's anyway. Owl me if there are any problems." And then he suddenly disappeared with a 'pop'.

Lily stared, amazed, at the place where the doctor had stood but a moment before.

"How, how did he……?"

"I'll explain it all in a moment. Let's start at the beginning.

"Yesterday, you received a letter. This letter, to be exact." He took the parchment letter out of a pocket inside his coat. "I'm guessing that you believed this to be some form of a practical joke, but it's not." he handed the letter to Lily.

"You're saying that this letter is real? That there really is a 'Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry', and that I'm really a 'witch'?" she said, making quote signs with her fingers. The man nodded.

Lily gave a small, rather hysterical laugh. "I can't believe this! After all I've been through, you, whoever you are, have the nerve to continue that stupid joke1"

"Lily, calm down."

"And how do you know my name!? Have you been stalking me for the last month, waiting for the chance to spring this trick on me?! I bet you're the one who killed my grandparents! What do you want?! Money?! Have you taken me as some kind of hostage!?!"

"That's enough!" he said, rising to his feet. "I will not have you insulting me and the rest of the wizarding world this way! Now if you'll calm down for one moment, I'll explain everything!"

Lily was furious. She was now positive that this man had killed her grandparents.

"**_But why?_" said the voices inside her mind.**

Lily was now accustom to the voice popping at random moments. "_I don't know!" she answered irritably._

"**_That's because he didn't do it, and he had nothing to do with it._"**

****

"_How do you know? All you are is a little voice in my head! How could you possibly know anything about him?!"_

"**_Fine, don't listen to me! Go on thinking that he killed them, but at least shut-up long enough to find out why he did it!_"**

Lily was fuming, but was stopped from making an angry retort by the man speaking once more.

"Talking to that voice in your head?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"How do you know about that?" Lily asked, startled.

"Look, if you'll only give me a few minutes, I'll explain everything." 

Lily wasn't sure what to do. Thinking back to what the voice had said, and how it never been wrong in the past, she decided to relent. "Alright."

"Good. Now allow me to start over. My name is Alexander Potter. This is my house, and I live here with my wife Elizabeth, and our son, James. And we are all members of the magical community.

"I know you won't believe me when I tell you that witches and wizards are real, and to be honest, I don't blame you. But just think, how else can you explain my son's and his friends' flying broomsticks? How can you explain that man just disappearing into thin air a moment ago? How can you explain this?" he flicked his wand and a drawer in his desk opened, and a handkerchief floated over to Lily and dropped into her lap. She stared at it for a moment, before hesitantly taking it and wiping her eyes.

"Think about it Lily. Have you ever made anything happen, anything that you couldn't explain?"

Lily was startled. Now that he thought about it, there had been several times during her life when strange things had happened. Once, she had fallen head first off of the highest branch in a tree, only to find herself sitting on the ground perfectly fine. Another time she and her mother had been shopping for Christmas presents in London and had lost track of time. They had rushed to the street and tried to flag down a cab. One taxi didn't have passengers, but the driver just drove right by them. Lily had been very angry, and suddenly, out of no where, the cab got a flat tire. Why just the other night when she had been terrified about what would happen to Kary when she had been forced to leave her in the woods, and had suddenly found her floating above the field be the house.

While Lily was recalling these events, Mr. Potter sat there patiently, knowing what she thinking about. After a few moments, Lily spoke.

"Yes, I guess I have caused things to happen before." She said, looking at the handkerchief in her hands. Then she lifted her head so that she could look him in the eyes. "I…..believe you now. There is no other way any of these things could happen. But that still doesn't explain why my grandparents are dead."

"I was about to move onto that. You see, in the wizarding world, there is a complex potion and spell combination that a witch or wizard can cast on themselves that turns them into an animagus, or someone who can transform themselves into an animal at anytime they wish. The type of animal the transform into is determined by the person's appearance and personality. There are many magical people who have done this, and one of them is a professor at your school, but I'll tell you more about that later. There are also a few witches and wizards who are born with this ability. And along with being able to turn into an animal, they also sometimes hear the voice of the animal inside their heads. Because animals have stronger senses than humans, the voices often know things that the wizard or witch does not. They also act as the person's subconscious mind, and will often remind them about things they have forgotten, or point out things they have heard or seen, but don't have complete recognition of hearing or seeing it, or the complete meaning of it."

"Am I….one of these people?" Lily asked.

"Yes, you are." Answered Mr. Potter.

"How do you know that?"

"Other people like you can sense when a new one is born. Their animal counter-parts interact with your counter-part and learn your name and other such information from it."

"So this voice I hear is the voice of the animal I turn into?"

He nodded his head.

"What kind of animal is it?"

"Well we won't know that until you turn into it. Don't worry," he said as he read the look of concern that spread across Lily's face, "other witches and wizards like you will help you learn how to transform. The headmaster at Hogwarts happens to also be an animorfica, that's what you call people who are born with this ability, and is a good friend of mine. He's going to be coming here to help you for a couple of weeks before school starts. Anyway, moving on to the subject of your grandparents' deaths. In the wizarding world, every now and then there arises a dark witch or wizard. The good witches and wizards usually stop and capture these dark wizards before they can rise to great power, but they still cause damage. Right now, there is a dark wizard who calls himself Lord Voldemort on the rise. Because animorficas are usually very powerful, Voldemort is out to kill any of the younger wizards and witches who have shown signs of being one of these before they can grow very strong.

"Normally, Voldemort would not know who any of these young witches and wizards are, but one of his followers broke into the Ministry of Magic, which is like the House of Parliament, where a record of all of the animorficas in the world is kept."

"So Voldemort was trying to... kill me last night?" she asked, scared.

"Well most likely not him himself, but some of his followers, yes."

Lily was quiet after this and Mr. Potter respected her silence, waiting fro her to speak.

"Does that mean he's trying to….Kill me?" she asked softly.

"I'm afraid it does, but you're not to worry. You will be staying here for the rest of the summer, and here you will be safe. Once you're at Hogwarts you'll be even safer, as Dumbledor is undoubtedly, in my mind, the most powerful wizard in the world.

"What about my family?"

"They are also safe over in America, where the Wizarding Congress has special agents watching over them. When they return to London, they will continue to be watched over by Ministry officials."

"Are those two police officers from last night, okay?"

"No, they did not survive either, I'm afraid."

Lily nearly broke into tears once more after hearing this, but managed to keep control of herself. "What was that….monster that attached us last night?"

"That was a werewolf."

"They really exist?!"

"Yes, along with almost every other muggle fantasy animal. In fact, that's where the muggle versions originated. Although, some creatures, such as mermaids, are really nothing like the muggle versions."

"What's a muggle?"

"Oh! Sorry, that's a term wizards and witches use for non-magical folk."

"Oh. So there really are werewolves, unicorns, and mermaids?"

"Yes, along with many other magical creatures you've never heard of, but you'll learn all about them at Hogwarts."

"How are James, Sirius, and that other boy?" Lily asked, suddenly remembering them.

"James and Sirius are fine; they escaped with only a few minor cuts and bruises. The other boy though, whose name is Remus Lupin by the way, was bitten by the werewolf."

"Is he alright?" Lily asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid not. As it is described in muggle fantasy, when bit by a werewolf, that person becomes one of the monsters as well."

"Oh my gosh."

"Yes, it's quite horrific. Right now, he's going through the first initial, and most painful, transformation. It should be over in a couple of days. Then, on each full moon, he will transform again, but each time will become fortunately less painful."

They sat in silence for a few moments, as Lily digested all of this new information. Then, rather unexpectedly, her stomach made a loud, hungry growl.

Mr. Potter laughed. "My! It seems your stomach is feeling rather empty and would like you to do something about it!" He glanced at the large grandfather clock that stood along the wall. "And no wonder! It's nearly noon and you haven't eaten since yesterday! Come on, and we'll go into the kitchen. I believe the boys are just having lunch now as well, and you can join them."

AS they walked down the numerous hallways that wound their way through the Potter Mansion, Lily tried to remember the last time she had eaten. She realized, with a sharp pang in her heart, that it had been in the mid-afternoon yesterday, when her grandfather had taken her out for an ice cream.


End file.
